– New V-Strom Touring variant launched
– Gets 112 litres of luggage
– Likely to be offered in India
Suzuki has taken the wraps off the V-Strom 800DE Tour – a touring variant based on the road model. This variant is all about travelling with the maximum luggage.
For the Tour model, the Japanese brand has equipped the V-Strom 800DE with 112 litres of luggage. There’s a top box that has a capacity of 38 litres and also two side panniers that have a capacity of 37 litres each. With such a massive amount of luggage space, Suzuki is looking to cater to buyers who like to do long-distance touring with a pillion.
The idea behind launching the Tour variant was to bring down the overall cost of the hard panniers. The brand was selling these luggage options separately on the road model. However, it decided to bring all these luggage options into one variant, reducing the overall price.
The Indian arm of Suzuki recently introduced the V-Strom 800DE at Rs. 10.30 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), making it the most affordable multi-cylinder premium bike in the country. As of now, there’s only one model on sale and that is the adventure variant which comes with a 21-inch front wheel. Suzuki could explore bringing the road variant to India as well if it sees good traction for the brand. The majority of the V-Strom 800DE customers aren’t going to take the bike off-road or ride hard enduro. So it does make sense to launch the road variant in India. In fact, this strategy could help the brand attract customers who are considering the Kawasaki Versys 650 and these are quite large in numbers.